VLSI implementation of a dynamic retina

The authors report on efforts to construct a silicon retina that generates output signals in real time outputs that correspond directly to those of biological retinas. It uses the principle of signal aggregation and demonstrates a tolerance for device imperfections that is characteristic of a collective system. The proposed silicon retina responds only to variations in the intensity of black and white light. The output of the retina is analogous to the output of the ganglion cells in the vertebrate retina. Its components operate well above the threshold voltage, i.e., each component operates in a voltage range of 0-5 V, while the current reaches few tens in an ampere